New York, US (PANA) - UN Women, the UN entity dedicated to achieving women’s empowerment and gender equality, on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, unveiled a new initiative to galvanize the support of global leaders to bring an end to the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls around the world.Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – A senior official of the United Nations has called on member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and their international partners to adopt efficient preventive measures against the challenges linked to gender inequality in the sub-region.Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Four women filmmakers have won prizes at the second of the Tazama Festival for African women Filmmakers, held from 6 to 12 January in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital.
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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Senegal’s Minister of Women, Family and Child Protection Mariama Sarr has commended the ECOWAS Commission for its initiatives in the promotion of gender equality and sustainable development within the region, an ECOWAS Commission statement made available to PANA Wednesday said.
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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Despite some concrete affirmative action measures, African women are still under-represented in top decision-making roles in the continent, according to tes a new study by the ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities.
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Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) – A National Equity and Gender Commission (ONEG) has been established in Côte d'Ivoire, tasked to monitor, evaluate and make proposals in line with the promotion of gender equality.Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African Union (AU) Special Envoy for Women and Peace, Benita Diop, has launched a bid to effectively protect women in conflict zones by proposing a series of strict measures to punish sexual offenders.
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New York, US (PANA) - The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Ms. Fatou Bensouda has launched a Policy on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes, stressing the need to end impunity for such egregious crimes.
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New York, US (PANA) - More than half-way through an international campaign to end violence against women, a top UN expert on the issue is calling for a binding international legal standard that holds UN member states accountable in fighting this widespread human rights violation.Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a new plan Wednesday to battle gender inequalities by promoting women’s rights to key government services and protection from harm.
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New York, US (PANA) - Violence against women and girls is a global pandemic that destroys lives, fractures communities and holds back development, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said as the UN on Tuesday marked the International Day to End Violence against Women.
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New York, US (PANA) - On Monday night, for the first time ever, both the iconic Empire State building and UN headquarters in New York will be bathed in orange light in celebration of UN-Women’s "Orange YOUR Neighbourhood" campaign ahead of the International Day to End Violence Against Women.
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African ministers of gender met here Wednesday to review the progress in achieving the broad goals set in 1995 in Beijing to improve the welfare of women, amid a surprising rise in gender violence against women.Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - At a meeting to review two decades of progress since the launch of the Beijing Plan of Action, women have decried the marginal gains in ensuring equal participation of women in economic activity.
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New York, US (PANA) - Governments around the world are being urged by two UN human rights committees to prevent and eliminate harmful practices inflicted on women and girls, a UN statement said on Wednesday.Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - The UN refugee agency has welcomed a new set of international guidelines, adopted Wednesday by the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, calling for countries to adopt a more gender-sensitive approach to dealing with women refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless people in order to take account of the abuses they frequently suffer.
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New York, US (PANA) - The UN Security Council on Tuesday stressed the need for the international community to fully endorse women’s empowerment and gender equality in ensuring global peace, security and development.
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New York, US (PANA) - More than 700 members of parliament from around the world are expected to discuss how they can address violence against women and girls at the UN office in Geneva this week.
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Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) – Uneducated young girls by far outnumber young boys to the ratio of 7 to 1 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gender, Family and Children's Affairs Minister Geneviève Inagosi said Saturday as the country marked the International Day of the Girl Child.
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Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – Congo's Minister for Women Promotion and Integration in Development, Catherine Embondza Lipiti has appealed to different stakeholders in the country to promote and protect the rights of girls, particularly with regard to education.Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - World leaders entering the next round of negotiations on the post-2015 agenda have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the lives of adolescent girls, and in turn, the world, according to a Girl Declaration Joint Advocacy Group statement issued on Saturday by international non-governmental organisations to mark this year's International Day of the Girl Child.Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - On the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child, observed 11 October, a global movement advocating for girls' and women's rights, Equality Now, has renewed the 'BringBackOurGirls' call for the rescue of 219 schoolgirls abducted six months ago by Boko Haram insurgents from a dormitory in Chibok, northern Nigeria.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Coordinator of the Girl Generation of United Kingdom and Kenya Keli Kpognon has said it is ''incredibly urgent'' for the world to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
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Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) – The rate of Tunisian women using contraceptives and involved in family planning is estimated at 62.5% of the female population in the north African country, says the managing director of the Tunisian national family and population office, Ridha Alkâata.
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New York, US (PANA) - Women leaders from government ministries, security sectors and civil society organisations have begun a 19-day programme in Washington, DC, US, to explore how women can advocate for peace, promote stability and improve security conditions in their communities, a US State Department statement said.Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Mr. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, says women are crucial partners in peacebuilding and must be guaranteed the safe political space, including a seat at the negotiating table to participate in all steps of post-conflict reconciliation and recovery processes.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the Gambia government, is assisting the West African state to eliminate harmful traditional practices.Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) – The executive board of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL) announced Friday that it has secured 1.95 million Special Drawing Rights, equivalent to US$ 3 million, from the International Development Association (IDA) for implementation of a regional emergency project to fight against gender-based sexual violence (SGBV).
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Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The World Bank has allocated US$107 million to support three countries of the Great Lakes region in their efforts to end violence against women, an official source said on Wednesday in Kigali.Full text...

Washington DC, US (PANA) - The US on Monday announced new assistance to advance gender equality in Africa, saying that long-term development will only be possible when women and men enjoy equal opportunity to rise to their full potential.
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Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Congolese Women Promotion and Integration Development Minister, Catherine Embondza Lipiti, on Thursday called on Congolese women and girls to show more interest in science education and new technologies to enable them contribute to the African renaissance, PANA reported from the Congolese capital, Brazzaville.
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New York, US (PANA) - New data released on Tuesday by UNICEF shows the need for urgent action to end female genital mutilation and child marriage, two practices that affect millions of girls across the globe.Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The number of Ethiopian girls undergoing the retrogressive cultural practice of female circumcision and early marriages has dropped by half and authorities hope to completely diminish the trend within 10 years, senior government officials said in London on Tuesday.
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Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian government will launch a national policy for the promotion and protection of children in Mali under its five-year (2015-2019) action plan which implementation will cost 27.812 billion CFA francs, PANA learnt Monday from the Malian ministry in charge of children.
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Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Statistics Mauritius on Monday indicated that out of a total population of 1,258,653, there were 635,792 women against 622,861 men -- 98 men for every 100 women in 2013 in Mauritius.
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Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – About 73% of girls complete their primary education in urban areas in Congo, says a report by the World Bank on gender equality in education and employment in Congo made public on Wednesday in Brazzaville.Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has urged the UN Security Council to take strong action to help restore the rule of law in Central African Republic (CAR) and bolster women’s participation, leadership and protection.
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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - A workshop aimed at building capacity of journalists on gender issues began on Tuesday in Dakar to promote the inclusion of gender dimensions in the Senegalese media.
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Yaoundé, Cameroon (PANA) - Cameroon's Minister of Women's Empowerment and Family, Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa, has urged other ministries to be involved in the search for solutions to improve the lives of widows.Full text...

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (PANA) – The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) will on Wednesday hold a forum in London to discuss solutions to sexual violence and gender equality, on the sidelines of the world summit that began on Tuesday on sexual violence in countries in conflicts.Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Hollywood actress, activist and Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ms. Angelina Jolie on Tuesday called for concerted action to end once and for all the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war.Full text...